Angimuzwa uNkulunkulu ekhuluma nami. Kunjani uma uNkulunkulu ekhuluma nawe? Lizwakala kanjani izwi likaNkulunkulu? Ungalizwa kanjani izwi likaNkulunkulu? Ulazi kanjani izwi likaNkulunkulu? Does God still speak to us today? These are just some of the many questions regarding the voice of God. When people speak about the voice of God, many times the Scriptures of the Old Testament are cited, which causes believers to create a wrong image and a wrong expectation about God’s voice. Ngenxa yalokho, many Christians don’t recognize God’s voice and don’t pay attention to the voice of God, and don’t listen to God. How does God communicate and what does the voice of God sound like? Ingabe izwi likaNkulunkulu lisazwakala nanamuhla?
Ingabe izwi likaNkulunkulu lisazwakala nanamuhla?
Baningi abantu, who have never heard the voice of God and wonder what the voice of God sounds like. They listen to preachers and prophets, who have heard from God and believe that you have to be someone special and must be in ministry and have a special ukugcotshwa to hear from God. But these people are carnal and have an Old Covenant mindset and don’t live in the New Covenant. Because if you are born again in Christ, your spirit is raised from the dead and your fallen position has been restored. You are reconciled with God and are anointed and have received the Holy Spirit and are able to communicate with Him.
Nokho, izikhathi eziningi, believers are too busy with themselves and the cares and the things of this world and don’t make time for God and His Word and don’t spend time with Him.
They don’t study the Bible and don’t pray, but spend all their time to the things of this world, but they do expect God to reveal Himself to them and speak to them and tell them what they want to hear. But that’s not how God works.
God speaks in the lives of His children, who are born of Him and belong to Him and are united with Him and who seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated and spend time with Him. They shall listen to God and what He has to say through His Word and the Holy Spirit and they shall hear His voice in the spirit.
Because God is Spirit and communicates in the spirit through His Word and the Holy Spirit, who lives in the born again believers.
Is the voice of God an audible voice?
The voice of God is not an audible sound as you perceive with your senses, in this case your ears. Mhlawumbe uyacabanga, “yes, but in the Old Testament the voice of God was an audible voice and the people could hear His voice. When God spoke to Samuel, Samuel heard an audible voice, because Samuel thought that Eli had called him. And when Jesus was abhapathizwe and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and during the transfiguration on the mountain, they heard the voice of God, who testified of His beloved Son Jesus Christ” (1 Samuweli 3, Mathewu 3:17; 17:5, Maka 9:7, Luka 9:35).
That is true! However… There is one thing that many people forget and that’s, that in the Old Testament and in the four gospels, the new man didn’t exist yet and the spirit of the old man was still dead.
The only exception in the four gospels is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and the Izibulo lendalo entsha.
UJesu wayeyizibulo lendalo entsha; Indoda entsha, who walked after the Spirit. But Jesus walked among carnal people, who belonged to the generation of the old man and were not born again in the spirit but lived in their fallen state. Therefore Jesus spoke in parables, so that God’s people, who belonged to the generation of the old man, could hear and understand the things of God and the principles of His Kingdom.
Esivumelwaneni Esidala, God had to deal with a carnal people, who were sense ruled. The spirit in those, ababengababantu bakaNkulunkulu, was dead. They were unspiritual and couldn’t see nor understand God and His Kingdom.
Therefore God came to the people and used a.o. an audible voice, which the carnal people, who were sense ruled could hear, so that God could communicate with the people.
Manje ngakho-ke, Uma niyolalela izwi lami ngempela, futhi ugcine isivumelwano sami, Niyakuba yingcebo eyingqayizivele kimi ngaphezu kwabo bonke abantu: Ngoba wonke umhlaba ungowami: Niyakuba ngumbuso wabapristi, nesizwe esingcwele (Eksodusi 19:5-6)
God communicated with a.o. U-Adamu, u-Abrahama, Usaka, Ungani, and Moses. God revealed Himself to Moses and made His nature and His will known by giving the law. Imiyalo kaNkulunkulu, which are written in the law of Moses, represented the voice of God and were meant for God’s carnal people. Besides the law, God also spoke through His prophets (Funda futhi: ‘Ngabe imiyalo kaNkulunkulu isasebenza‘ futhi ‘Imiyalo kaNkulunkulu nemiyalo kaJesu’).
God made Himself known to His people
Funani uJehova ngenkathi etholakala, nimbize yena ngenkathi eseduze: Ababi mabayeke balahle indlela yakhe, and the unrighteous man His thoughts: makabuyele eNkosini, futhi uzoba nesihe kuye; Futhi kuNkulunkulu wethu, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nezindlela zakho azizindlela zakho, isho iNkosi (Isaya 55:6-8).
Ohamba ngobuqotho uyamesaba uJehova: kepha okhohlakele ezindleleni zakhe uyamdelela (Izaga 14:2).
God was not an unknown God, who hid Himself. God was only an unknown God to those, who hid themselves for God and rejected His law and therefore rejected God and His Word. Because they had rejected God and His Word, they were not familiar with His thoughts and His ways. (Funda futhi: ‘UZimu wenqatshwa emasontweni amaningi‘ futhi ‘Indlela kaNkulunkulu yindlela yakho?‘).
Kepha kulabo, who were raised with – and in the law and listened to the voice of God and kept His commandments, God was not an unknown God. They knew their God, Who had delivered them out of Egypt and brought them into the promised land, and through their obedience, to the voice of God by keeping His commandments they showed God that they loved God.
The born again believer communicates in the spirit
After the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the new man, Ngokufa kwenyama novuko lukaMoya kwabafileyo, the new man was able to hear the voice of God and to understand the voice of God in the spirit.
Therefore the new birth is a requirement to hear the voice of God and to have a relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.
A born-again believer has become a living spirit, njengoJesu. The communication with God the Father, UJesu Kristu, and the Holy Spirit takes place in the spirit.
Ngisenezinto eziningi zokunitshela, kodwa anikwazi ukuzithwala manje. Nokho ngenkathi Yena, uMoya weqiniso, ufikile, Uyoniholela kulo lonke iqiniso: ngoba Kayikukhuluma ngokwakhe; kodwa loba yini azayizwa, lokho uzakukhuluma: futhi uzonikhombisa okuzayo. Yena uyakungikhazimulisa Mina: ngoba Yena uyakwamukela okwaMi, njalo ngizalitshengisa. Konke uBaba anakho kungokwami: ngalokho ngithe, ukuthi Uyakuthatha kokwaMi, njalo ngizalitshengisa. A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father (UJohane 16:12-15)
The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with the flesh (Oh. izinzwa, ingqondo yenyama, imizwa, imizwelo) but with the spirit.
Abantu, who say that they feel the Holy Spirit and must be led by the Holy Spirit by experiencing a certain feeling before they act, are carnal and don’t walk by faith and don’t rely on Jesus Christ; iZwi, but rely on their flesh; imizwa yabo.
The Holy Spirit is not a feeling and the Holy Spirit is not an emotion, but the Holy Spirit is a Person Who speaks and acts according to the Word. The Holy Spirit shall never contradict the Word, because the Holy Spirit speaks the words of Jesus.
Many times when the flesh is still alive and very much present in someone’s life and the mind is not renewed with the Word of God, the flesh stands in the way and strives against the Holy Spirit and prevents a person from hearing the voice of God, because God doesn’t speak according to the expectation or the will of the person.
Ungalizwa kanjani izwi likaNkulunkulu?
Izimvu zami ziyalizwa izwi laMi, nami ngiyabazi, futhi bayangilandela: Futhi ngizinika ukuphila okuphakade; futhi azisoze zabhubha naphakade, akakho ongazihlwitha esandleni Sami (UJohane 10:27-28)
Those who are born of God and belong to Him shall listen to the voice of God and shall obey His words.
God speaks through His Word and His Spirit. When you read and study His Word, the Holy Spirit will make His words known to you and your spirit shall be fed. Your spirit shall be strengthened and God shall speak directly through His Word to you.
Bese kukuwe, whether you will listen to Him and submit yourself to Him and obey Him or not.
Every son of God shall hear the voice of God and shall be taught and chastised by Him
Anakumelana negazi, Ukulwela Isono. Futhi nikhohliwe isikhuthazo esikhuluma kini ezinganeni, Umfana wami, Ungadeleli ukuqasha kweNkosi, futhi ungapheli amandla lapho usukhuzile: Othanda uNkulunkulu kuye, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, UZimu Usebenzelana Nawe Njengamadodana; Ngoba yiphi indodana kababa uYena? Kepha uma nina nina ninankinga, Abo bonke abahlanganyeli, ke nina bastards, futhi hhayi amadodana (IsiHebheru 12:4-8)
Because whom the Lord loves, He chastised. From patting on the back you don’t grow up into a spiritually mature son of God, but you shall only become a prideful loose cannon.
NgeZwi, uzomazi, and when you submit to the Word and listen to the words of God and obey His words and be taught, kulungiswe, and chastised, you shall spiritually mature into a mature son of God and shall walk in His will.
When you spend time with Him in the Word and in prayer, you shall maybe be confronted and hear things you’d rather not hear, and maybe His will go against your will, imizwa yakho, and your emotions. Bese kukuwe, whether you really love God and want to follow Jesus Christ and obey Him and do His will or that you want to keep following your flesh and do the will of the flesh.
The Lord speaks through His Word, during prayer, but He can also speak during the day in your spirit. The Holy Spirit can give you insights, ulwazi, izambulo, izixwayiso, ukulungiswa, njll. But every time God speaks, it’s all about whether you want to listen to His words and obey His words or whether you harden your heart and reject His words.
God still speaks to His people
God still speaks to His people, but many times it’s His people, who don’t want to listen to God, because God doesn’t speak according to the will of their flesh. Many times God says something that doesn’t line up with their will and therefore they close their ears to His words.
Jesus has given His commandments and told His followers what to do and Jesus still gives commandments, but if the people don’t want to listen to the voice of Jesus and don’t want to hear His words and don’t want to do what Jesus has commanded to do and still commands to do, then eventually Jesus will leave the person alone. Because what’s the use, if people don’t want to listen?
‘Yibani usawoti womhlaba’
