Hearing His Voice #38

Put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.

Exodus 28:30, NIV

After God gave them the law, a very specific set of principles to live by and commands to heed, the people of Israel knew God’s will for them—it unfolded at Sinai in a very dramatic encounter. They had all the information they needed for living the kind of lives God wanted.

But they didn’t have specific direction. They still needed to be led by the cloud and the fire that directed them through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. They still needed to know when and where to go into battle, whom to accept help from, which prophets to believe, which kings to anoint, and so on. These were specific choices not covered in the law but vital to following God’s will. The people needed more than general guidance and rules for living. So God gave them a means to hear Him—in this case, two mysterious stones carried by the priest—with instructions to use them in God’s presence to discover His will.

Many people argue that God has already said in Scripture everything He is going to say, and therefore we can’t expect Him to speak to us individually. Aside from being entirely unscriptural, this argument also fails to make a distinction between God’s general revelation for all of us and His specific will for us personally and corporately. Clearly He isn’t going to reveal new doctrine or lead us to add anything to Scripture, but that doesn’t preclude Him from speaking to us in the context of a personal relationship with Him. He wants us to follow Him in His big-picture plan and in the minute details of life. If we’ll listen, He will lead.

Father, thank You for being vocal—for being willing to make Your intentions known at times when we need to understand them. Guide me daily in the ways I should go.