Wednesday 23rd April
Read Deuteronomy 5:23-27
“When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said, ‘The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. 26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.’” (NIVUK)
In scripture, hearing and obeying are linked. When Moses reminded God’s people of their experience at Sinai, a generation that was not present, he spoke of them hearing the voice of God out of darkness and fire. The experience was so terrifying they begged for a mediator to go near and listen and pass the message on. They then promised to listen and obey.
How does one ‘hear’ today though? Is it as terrifying? Moses makes clear that the words of God in scripture are to be listened to, they are the mediated voice of God, as immediately preceding this description of Sinai he recounts the ‘ten words’. But sitting beneath this less confronting way to ‘hear’ remains the need for a mediator. A mediator whom God’s people are not terrified of. A mediator they are willing to listen to.
“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.’” (John 10:2-5) (NIVUK)
