Ears to Hear

I am getting near the end of reading my chronological Bible for the second time. If you haven’t read a chronological Bible (A Bible with things in the order in which they occurred instead of the traditional order), I highly recommend trying it. It gives extra insight into what you are reading when you see what is happening at the same time or read a Psalm of David right after the event that inspired the Psalm.

I had just started reading Revelation, and was reading the letters to the seven churches. Every letter to a church ends with the sentence, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2: 7,11,17, 29 & 3:6,13,22)

When I first was reading this sentence repeated seven times to the seven churches, I was thinking about how this was telling all seven churches to read all seven letters, not just the letter to their own church. I then was thinking, that this would also be a call to the modern church.

I then focused in on the first part, “He who has an ear, let him hear.” Was this a call to everyone who physically has an ear, i.e. everyone, or was it something different? This sent me chasing a rabbit trail through the Bible searching for verses about “ears to hear.” What I found was that there were very few references to hearing ears, but many references to people who cannot hear. Most people can NOT “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,Who have eyes but do not see;Who have ears but do not hear. (Jeremiah 5:21)

and

To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. (Jeremiah 6:10)

The nation of Judah was accused of seeing God’s great work, but not seeing God, and of hearing God’s word, but not listening to what it says nor applying it in their lives. Today we have more access to God’s word than at any time in history, but how much use of it do we make? Do we read it? Do we listen to it? Do we read or listen to those explaining it? Do we try to understand it and apply it in our lives? If not, why not? Do we care? Are we not interested? Even worse, can we not understand it because we have not yet trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior and therefore do not have the Holy Spirit within us to help us to understand? What does Jesus say about the matter?

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. (John 8:42-45) {emphasis mine}

Jesus says that those who are His listen and understand what He says. Those who don’t care about God’s word and do not understand His word are “of your father the devil.” That may seem harsh, but Jesus never speaks anything that isn’t truth. If we are saved and are children of God, we should seek to hear His voice, whether spoken, read, or built into our hearts by the Spirit. Do you have “ears to hear?”

For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them .” ’ (Acts 28:27) {emphasis mine}

Have you closed your eyes and ears to Jesus, even a little bit? When we open our hearts and minds to Jesus we can “hear with [our] ears, And understand with [our] heart and return, And [Jesus will] heal [us].”

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;For the heart of this people has become dull,With their ears they scarcely hear,And they have closed their eyes,Otherwise they would see with their eyes,Hear with their ears,And understand with their heart and return,And I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:10-16) {emphasis mine}

Jesus has given to those who trusted in Him the ability seek, find, hear, and understand His word. He has given us knowledge of mysteries unknown by those before Him and all those who have rejected Him. We have been blessed with knowledge of Him and knowledge of what is to come (although obviously not in the detail God Himself knows). We who know God and His word have been blessed to see and blessed hear the very word of the Creator of the Universe and the God-man who came to earth to save us from our sins. Why do we not make more use of this blessing?

Now going back to Revelation:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ” (Revelation 3:20-22) {emphasis mine}

Jesus repeated “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” but in His letter to the last of the seven churches He adds, “if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Jesus enabled us to hear His voice, but we need to open the door, so we can be in daily communion with Him.

To whom do we listen? To whom do we give our attention? Whose advice do we put as highest? Upon what do we build our view of the world? I hope your honest answer to all of these questions is “Jesus”.

I also find it interesting that the very next verse once again brings up the door.

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” (Revelation 4:1) {emphasis mine}

Jesus says to the churches, “if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” and then John says, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,” and John hears Jesus say, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

John had an ear to hear and listened to the Spirit. He was then called up to Heaven in the spirit to see what was to come. The door to heaven was open and he was free to enter. (Don’t take this as my saying John or we earned our way to heaven. Salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone, not by works.)

John is referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was close to Jesus when Jesus walked the earth as a man and he was close to Jesus when Jesus was up in heaven, but had sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in John. We also need to have that listening ear that seeks Jesus and His word. We need to be constantly learning more about Jesus, talking more to Jesus, and obeying Jesus in our words and deeds. We need to honor Him and serve Him out of gratefulness for what He has done for us and out of awe of who He is.

May the God of heaven give you ears to hear and a heart that longs for Him. May He give you a longing for His word and excitement to share it with others. May He give you a submissive heart that is wholly devoted to Him.

Trust Jesus

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.