Does God Speak to Us Today?

The religion of the ancient Hebrews was based upon the belief that God can and does speak to man (John McKenzie, S.J. : The Two-Edged Sword, p. 22).

 

There are 400 years between the Testaments when "no prophet had arisen in Israel," when both the common people and the leaders were awaiting once again "The Word of the Lord."  Malachi was the last prophet before Jesus to speak in the Name of the Lord, and we can date that scroll to around 460 BCE, dealing with the problems of the people returning from captivity in Babylon.  Judah was still subject to Persia, even though they had been permitted to return to their own land by Cyrus.  Now they had to re-establish their government and to formulate laws to govern both civil and religious conduct.  Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet to give guidance to Israel in the Name of the Lord.

 

When Ezra returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, he brought with him the "book of the law of the Lord," but he did not receive the "Word of the Lord" as had the prophets before him.  Four hundred years after the exile (587-536), during the time of the Maccabees, Judas Maccabee and his sons seem sadly aware that the age of prophecy had past.  Not knowing what to do with the stones of the altar that had been polluted, they put them away until a prophet should come to tell them what to do.

 

Many people today would maintain that the age of prophecy has past, that God no longer speaks to His people, that we have no more prophets.  The book of Hebrews tells us, though, that "in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son....[Who] is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by His powerful word."  His words are recorded in the New Testament for us, but it still takes a "living Word" from the Holy Spirit to breathe life into the Book -- to make it come alive for us.

 

If what we do matters to God, He must still speak to us through the Holy Spirit.  In fact, Jesus promised that the Spirit, when He comes, would lead us into all truth. Surely, that means that the Spirit continues to breathe wisdom and knowledge into the Body of Christ.

 

Someone once said, "Every child has the right to know what his father expects of him."  We do not often recognize the voice of God speaking to us, for it often sounds like our own voice or the voice of our parents.  But if we cultivate the time and space we need to still our own voice, we will hear God speaking in our hearts.

 

Scripture is the starting place -- we need to eat and digest the words of Jesus, but it takes the Holy Spirit "breathing" into the words on the page to show us which Scripture is meant for us at that moment.  In the wilderness, Satan quoted Psalm 191, but Jesus countered with a word from Deuteronomy.  Even our reading of Scripture must be directed by the Holy Spirit. 

 

Jesus said, "My sheep know My Voice...."  Surely that means He is still speaking to us from within.  Open our ears, Lord, to hear Your Voice!