Revelation 1:15

“His voice was like the sound of rushing waters…Out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.”

I gather from this vision that, even though we do not hear the voice of God Almighty, that does not mean that God has nothing to say. On the contrary, his Word is constant, strong and dependable. That must have impressed John as he learned from the vision before him. He may have been bothered by a thought – when Caesar speaks everyone obeys him, when God speaks few do so.  Is it because God has stopped speaking? Hardly.

I gather that even though I do not hear the Word like I perhaps used to, that does not mean that the Word is gone or silent. It simply means that I am not listening!

I also note that God’s Word pours fourth like “rushing waters.” Never ceasing. Always fresh. Life-giving.  For myself, I am bombarded by all kinds of voices, some terrifying, some lost and crying, some shouting despair. I must listen to these voices because I am a shepherd in God’s flock and I need to understand their plight, but unless I hear the voice of Jesus Christ over all voices, I have nothing to offer, no authentic counsel. I need to stop, actually stop, and filter out all voices except the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

We recall the word of God spoken on the mountain on which Jesus was glorified and transfigured. It was God almighty speaking, breaking strong above all other voices – “This is my beloved Son, listen to him!”  Moses was there and Elijah.  Their voices in Israel’s history were very, very strong. But now all were directed to the voice above all voices, that of Jesus.

Not only is God’s Word loud and constant, it also judges, as a sharp two edged sword. It looks quite often, from our point of view, that the wicked flourish while the righteous, especially the “righteous me,” suffer!  Here again we should never doubt God’s wise judgment even though it does not look like He cares.  Judgement is in God’s hand and he will surely judge all.