The woman responded, "I was walking down the street and God said, 'You run in there and rescue that baby!' I'm a Christian, and Christians need to hear God when he speaks. People die when we don't obey God's voice."
While I agree that "Christians need to hear God when he speaks," and commend the heroic faith and action of this woman, I found the interview disturbing.
The question I wanted to ask, was, why she needed to hear God speak to her privately to know He wanted her to attempt to rescue an endangered child? Would she have run into a raging fire to save a helpless child had she not heard God's voice? I agree that when God speaks, we must obey. The question is not so much whether he has spoken, but how he has spoken and when does he speak. Had God not spoken to her that morning through her private experience would she have borne any responsibility to rescue the child? No Bible verse tells us to rescue a child from a burning building, just as no Bible verse tells us whom to marry, what car to buy, or what career to choose. What do we do when we lack a specific express word from God relevant to our circumstance? If private revelation is necessary for us to be faithful then how can people be obedient to him who have no such direction or private revelation (Heb 11:13, 36-40)? How do we know when God is speaking to us?
[1] On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. [2] They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, [3] while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: [4] ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. [5] Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice [emphasis mine] and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; [6] and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:1–6ESV)
God spoke audibly to Moses and told him to deliver his "words" to the people, promising them blessings if they "obeyed his voice;" The voice of God the people were told to obey was the prophetic word, the commandments, given to Moses. He went up to the mountains where he received the law of God. Upon returning to the camp delivered God's word to the people. The voice of God that people normally heard in the Old Testament was the scripture."
[3] Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words [emphasis mine] that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 24:3ESV)
They understood the prophetic word that was delivered to be the voice of God. Yet the people to whom God spoke did not obey. They died in the wilderness and Moses had to deliver a message again to the next generation. Deuteronomy records God's renewal of the covenant to the next generation saying:
[1] And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. [2] And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 28:1–2 ESV)
The "voice of God" that Moses told them to carefully follow were the commandments that God had spoken to him, and he had in turn delivered to them. When speaking of the consequences of disobeying the voice of God, he means the commandments he delivered to them. (Du 28: 15- 19; 29:1). As he concludes his exposition to them explaining how they heard "the voice of God. He promises them to bless and to restore, if "...you and your children, ... obey his voice in all that I command you today [emphasis mine], with all your heart and with all your soul," (Deuteronomy 30:2ESV) He promises them blessings if they obey the voice of God that was contained in his commandments (Du 30:8 ESV), the Scripture. Then Moses explains how the voice he hears is finally heard by the people:
[11] “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. [12] It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ [13] Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ [14] But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30: 11- 14ESV)
Moses assures the people that God's voice is near them. It is not "in heaven," nor is it "beyond the sea;" is in their mouth and heart, "through the commandments he has delivered. Henry Blackaby claims this passage teaches that God's voice is near the believer in their circumstances and daily experience with God. The voice of God is normally heard in the heart and mind of the mature believer. He claims we "hear his voice" by observing what God is doing and joining him. This is one of the common texts of the EGM teachers. They misconstrue the meaning of the text. God spoke to the people through the word he delivered audibly to Moses, who wrote them and was now reading and expositing them to the next generation. "The voice of God" was in their heart and mouth" because they had been in the wilderness for 40 years hearing what the prophet delivered them from God.
This twisting of the clear context of the text leads nearly all EGM teachers to that the New Testament supports their understanding, "[1] Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets," (Hebrews 1:1ESV)." They argue that since God is the same "yesterday and forever" and that this text and Deuteronomy 30 teach that God's voice was heard commonly in private revelatory experience given to the people, then surely, faithful mature believers will have the same experiences. Once again, the understanding ignores the context of the passage.
Rather than claiming that God spoke through events and circumstances to the people this text says, "God spoke to our fathers by the prophets..."[emphasis mine]. The Old Testament believer did not "experience God" and "hear his voice" in their hearts and minds. Rather, they experienced God spoke to "the prophets" at various time and by various means. The very next word in the text makes the EGM understanding of this passage impossible. Hebrew 1: 2 begins with the word "but."
It is a contrasting conjunction. The author is contrasting the way God's voice was heard in the Old with the way it is heard in the New. It is clearly different. In other words, he is affirming that God no longer speaks the way he did in the Old Testament. Since Christ has come and the gospel has been revealed God's means of Commnication is differente:
[2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Hebrews 1:2ESV)
He no longer delivers audible message, signs and wonders is as his medium of communication. They have been replaced by the scripture. God speaks to believers today exactly the way he always has, through the Word delivered to the prophets. Jesus speaks to us today in a medium, far more certain and reliable, than circumstance, or events, or open and closed doors, or impressions.
In Jesus High Priestly Prayer, he prays for believers of all ages to know him and his purposes, he reveals how we hear the voice of God:
[12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, ..., and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them your word, ... [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:12–19ESV)
Jesus says he speaks "in the world..." through the word he has given. We are sanctified, conformed to his will and transformed to his likeness is the Word of God, through his word. Under the Old Covenant God's word was delivered by various means to prophets who then spoke it to his people for them to conform to God's promises and obtain his blessing. Once Jesus work was completed, he gave the Holy Spirit to conform us to his purposes revealed through the Word of God, the Bible.
So yes, friends you can hear the voice of God speak to your heart, in your mind, and in your routine events through the Word of God the Bible:
[18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18–22ESV)
Our "access," our means of communion with God is through the "foundation of the apostles and the prophets." The way we enter and maintain communication with God is through his Word. There is no expectation or promise in scripture of God speaking in our experience. Nowhere are we called to "look for what he is doing and join him." He has revealed his purposes and we need to know to live according to then in the scripture (2Pt 1:3). Rather than being "hand me down revelation" that confirms what God is saying in our experience. The Word of God working with the Spirit is God's life transforming voice to us. We need be no seminars or classes to discern the voice of God. So yes, you can a "two-way communication with God." You can know his thought and mind about every issue you face. We need not strive to "hear is voice." God speak loudly in a clear voice to all believers through his Word, the Bible, every day, all the time.
