The Source of All Our Problems
I love hearing the VOICE of the red-wing blackbird. It’s unlike any other bird song out there. Not too loud, not raucous like a noisy blue jay or even piercing like a cardinal. The blackbird’s call is a cheerful one and produces both a smile and a calming effect. To hear it is to know that close by, there is standing water, a swamp, a marshy area, and the familiar sight of cat tails. In those marshy wetlands, blackbirds feed, build their nests, and raise their families. When I hear its familiar VOICE, though it might be unseen, there’s no doubt it’s a blackbird. So, I wait a few minutes longer just to get a glimpse of this winged beauty.
My DTS buddy Jerry Smith sure knows how to capture these birds at the right moment and display their beauty. Too bad his photos don’t also come with a sound track.
The origin of all of our problems is the refusal—rooted in our unbelief--to listen to the beautiful VOICE of the Lord God. The serpent’s first words to Eve were: “Has God really said?” This is why God chided Adam with the words: “Because you listened to the VOICE of your wife…” The point is not so much his wife[1] per se, but that he listened to—obeyed—someone’s VOICE other than the LORD God. In the Hebrew language, to listen is to obey. It was the origin of all humanity’s problems.
It is no surprise, then, to find that the theme of listening to/obeying the VOICE of the LORD God becomes a major, unifying theme in the Hebrew Bible. You can track it canonically all the way through the Hebrew Bible right into the New Testament.
Abraham, for example, listened to/obeyed the VOICE of the LORD and as a result, God established a covenant with him. Observe:
In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you listened/obeyed my VOICE (Genesis 22:18; 26:4-5).
One key evidence to distinguish the family of the “seed of the woman” from the “seed of the serpent” in the Bible is their faith-based obedience to the VOICE of the Lord. There is both kinds of family members (“seeds”) in Adam’s family. Cain, the firstborn son, refused to listen to/obey the voice of the LORD when He charged him to control his anger. Cain refused to listen to God’s VOICE. That refusal was the origin of all his problems. His display of resentment and murderous anger revealed his true identity—a seed of the serpent.
There are many other examples in Scripture of how this principle plays out. King Saul started out well. But due to his fear of people, he failed to listen to the VOICE of the Lord. Observe the sequential exchange of words between the prophet Samuel and King Saul:
Samuel: Now listen to the VOICE of the words of the LORD.
1 Samuel 15:1
Samuel: Why did you not listen to the VOICE of the LORD?
1 Samuel 15:19
Samuel: Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in listening/obeying the VOICE of the LORD? To listen/obey is better than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22
Observe Saul’s reason for his failure:
Saul: I feared the people and listened to THEIR VOICE.
1 Samuel 15:24
Saul listened to voices, but he failed to listen to the right voice. It was the source of all his problems. Saul paid the consequence for being swayed by people and not listening to the VOICE of the LORD. The voice of God would no longer be available to him (15:26). So, when he needed guidance, he sought the forbidden voice of a witch. The next day God put him to death. As was the case with Goliath the giant, another seed of the serpent, Saul’s head (he was also a giant—head and shoulders above anyone else) was removed and he fell forward.
And what was the cause of the original death in Genesis 3? The failure to listen to the VOICE of the LORD God. That failure of faith was the origin of all our problems. So, the story of Saul in 1 Samuel 15 is a recapitulation of Genesis 3. Saul is on his way down, looking more and more like the seed of the serpent. But there were pivot points in that journey downward. Each pivot point hinged on his response to the voice of the Lord through a prophet or a member of the seed of the woman (David, Jonathan).
How we respond to the VOICE of the Lord—our actions and practices--distinguishes our true family. The new humanity, the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15), though not perfect, will continue to listen to the VOICE of the Lord. You can trace this unifying thread throughout the entire Bible.[2]
Whose voices are we listening to? The voice of the serpent through powerful people in the church? The people with tenure, with rank, with cultural influence, or with money? The traditionalists? Political party voices? Celebrities? Our buddies and friends? Listening to these VOICES will be the source of many problems in the church. Or, are we listening to the beautiful VOICE of the Lord God?[3] The source of all our problems is the tendency to listen to the VOICES of people who themselves fail to listen to God’s VOICE.
One issue rushes naturally to the front: How will the seed of the woman—the new humanity who lives by genuine faith in God, continue to hear the voice of the LORD? Who will be given the responsibility to communicate the VOICE of the LORD to the people? Who in both Old and, yes, the New Testament, is charged specifically with proclaiming the VOICE of the Lord? Who speaks for God? Who are the Samuels and Huldahs of 2020?
More to come.
And the next time you’re visiting some wetlands, keep your ear tuned for the beautiful VOICE of the blackbird.
Thank you for reading.
[1] During the reformation of King Josiah, workmen in the Temple found the Book of the Law, which the prior king (Manasseh) had neglected in his generation. The king directed five leaders to inquire of the LORD about the newly discovered book. But rather than heading directly to the available male prophets, the famous Jeremiah and Zephaniah, they went to Huldah the prophetess to verify this very important matter: identifying the book they’d found. See 2 Kings 22:3-20. This shows that in this period of Israel’s history, there was no prejudice or bias against women offering prophecy as God’s mouthpiece. Huldah’s words were to be given the same authority as those of male prophets.
[2] Another example of how one’s response to the VOICE of the Lord determines our family of origin is the case of Pharaoh: he refused to listen/obey the voice of the LORD; Exodus 5:2.
[3] The VOICE from the cloud speaking to Peter, Jacob, and John: “This is my Son. Listen to him.” Luke 9:35.