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  • Pastor Ralph changed the title to Q12. Voice
  • 4 weeks later...

Elijah obviously heard a voice, not his mind or conscience -- a voice(!); an audible voice. That voice was clear and understandable to him. Elijah knew he was talking to God Himself – there was no ambiguity in Elijah’s mind that he was talking to God even though, presumably, he couldn’t see God as he spoke with Him. He conversed with God just like he would with another person, except God was invisible.

This is how all communication works between humans: we hear … we respond.

Without hearing an audible voice, we have to guess at what the other person is saying. In essence, we’re reduced to sign language.

In a restaurant many years ago, at the table next to me, I watched several deaf people signing quickly and passionately. They were obviously recounting something that had happened – sharing a story. Their facial expressions were over-sized and dramatic as they “signed.” Their communicating without sound involved the entire body. Since I make noise, my communication can be subtle, which it is. I have a soft voice. I also have very restrained bodily movements. I can whisper and not move my body yet still communicate. But if I were deaf, my entire body would be involved in communicating.

Perhaps, when God speaks, He is dramatic because we can’t hear Him otherwise because we’re spiritually deaf or hard-of-hearing. Whispers don’t communicate to the deaf. Thus, drama is needed – earthquakes, fire, windstorms, etc.

If we could hear His whisper … if we could hear his audible voice, drama would be unnecessary. We could, like Elijah, have an ordinary conversation with God.

Why does God do this? He knows we’re hard-of-hearing. If He wanted to communicate with us, He could do so easily. Perhaps communication isn’t the point. Maybe there’s more going on here than God trying to tell us something.

Like so much these days, I simply don’t understand this. If God wants to communicate with me, why doesn’t He acknowledge my limitation and speak audibly or in ways I easily understand? I’m stuck with two possibilities, both of which I don’t like.

  • First, He isn’t communicating with me. The reason I don’t hear his voice is that He’s not speaking (even though I want Him to speak to me.) He’s silent.
  • Second, whispering may be beneficial in some way. This would mean that God’s goal isn’t communicating, but something else entirely.
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Q12. God can make Himself heard in any of these way in the wind, or in an earthquake or in a fire and also in many other ways. God chose to speak to Elijah in a still small voice. This was because God wants to personally communicate with Elijah and He choose’s to come to him in a still small voice. God wants to covey His presence to us in a quiet, calm way, rather than a loud show of His power. God wants to have a relationship with us. This shows Elijah that God loves him and has not forgotten him. God renews him by giving him a new assignment to carry out. We can miss God’s gentle and quiet voice if we don’t listen for it, or if we are constantly surrounded by loud sounds. We may not always hear God’s voice but it could be something in God’s Word which conveys something to us, or an impression we get to do something or not to do something. 

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Q12. (1 Kings 19:17-19) 
Why do you think the author contrasts the "still small voice" to the wind, earthquake, and fire? How does God's voice comfort and renew Elijah? Why is it easy to miss God when His voice is gentle and quiet? 
We read of God sending the wind, earthquake, and fire, but His presence was not found there in these powerful demonstration of destruction. Instead, it was in the “still small voice” that followed them. God reveals Himself to us according to our needs. To awaken His Prophets, He is sometimes the God of thunder and flame. But to someone who is fearful and stressed, to comfort them, He is the God of the “still small voice”. This is how God, in love and grace, spoke to Elijah. Nevertheless, he was still rebuked for his loss of faith. I think Elijah was also feeling sorry for himself and wanted vengeance. He wanted God to send the windstorm, the earthquake, and the fire upon Jezebel and her idolaters, but God was reminding him that He is in control, not Elijah. God comforted and renewed Elijah by speaking gently to him as well as giving new assignments that would keep him busy and help him to forget the situation he thought he was in. This made him realize that God doesn't always reveal Himself only in powerful, miraculous ways. We can also miss His gentle and quiet voice. This can so easily happen today, since we are so exposed to all sorts of social media and we need to step back from all the noise and activity of our busy life and listen quietly for His guidance. It may come when we least expect it, and is often found gently whispering in the quietness of a humbled heart. 
 

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Quite often we miss the voice of God because we are anticipating God to speak in such, you know, great thunderous tones or in such a mystic way. I say, "Well, the Lord spoke to me."

 

Oh, how did He speak?" My, the voice of God must really rumble like thunder or something, you know. And we think that when God is leading us that there must be something almost like a trance experience where I become, you know, almost in this trance and I hear a little sign saying, "Beep, beep, beep, beep, turn right. Beep, beep, beep, beep, go forward," you know. "Beep, beep, stop." And that is some kind of a mystic thing where I'm walking around in a trance. God is leading me. I'm being led by the Spirit. Not so. In fact, when God is leading our life He does it in such natural ways that generally, we're not even aware that God is leading us because it just seems such a natural thing.

 

Don't expect God to speak in some earthquake, or in fact, it's awfully hard to hear God many times when our earth is shaking around us. It's awfully hard to hear God in the midst of the tempest and the storms of life. It's hard to hear God when it seems like everything around us is being consumed.

 

Many times we need to get our hearts very quiet before God. We need to get away from the tempest. We need to get away from the shaking and the things around us to get alone to where we can really hear that still, small voice of God within as He guides us, as He assures us of His love, as He assures us of His purpose. And we get the strength and help from God when He speaks to us. And it's that still, small voice within. So natural that it seems like it comes maybe even from our own heart or our own mind. But in reality, it is God speaking to us. It's always an exciting experience when we come to the realization that that thought didn't come out of our own subconsciousness, that thought came to us from God. God planted that thought in our mind, that still, small voice. It was God speaking to us. And it's beautiful. It's a glorious experience to hear the still, small voice.

 

The Lord said, repeated the same question, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And Elijah still didn't understand the question. He answered the Lord the same way.

 

Now the question was, "What are you doing here?" Not "Why are you here?" So the Lord got then to specifics with this upset prophet because, in reality, he was doing nothing. He was hiding. Doing nothing. He had put himself out of service. He was out of commission. He wasn't. There was no one to witness down there. There was no work for God to be done in that barren wilderness. So he was doing nothing. God doesn't like for us to do nothing. And so the Lord re-commissioned him.

 

He said, Now look, get out of here, and get on up to Damascus: and when you get there, anoint Hazael to be the king over Syria: And then get down and anoint Jehu to be the king over Samaria: and then anoint Elisha to take your place and all ( 1 Kings 19:15-16 ).

God put him back to work. God got him away from this place of hiding in a cave, of doing nothing, and commissioned him back into service for the Lord. Even as God wants to get us off our duff and get us back to doing something that's worthwhile for Him.

 

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The Lord's voice is best heard when we are alone with Him, no surrounding noise or distractions whether from the elements or human noise. Elijah is comforted from the low whisper he has heard from the Lord. He now knows that the Lord is not disappointed in him. The Lord has given him a new assignment to fulfill and assured Elijah that there are 7,000 other's who are faithful to Him. It can be difficult to miss the small voice of the Lord especially when there is noise in our surroundings, being alone in our quite place of prayer is best to listen for the Lord to speck to us.          

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Q12. (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Why do you think the author contrasts the “still small voice” to the wind, earthquake, and fire?

How does God’s voice comfort and renew Elijah?

Why is it easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quiet?

In no way can you not hear or discern  the difference between wind, earthquake, fire and still small voice;  the difference is easily discernable.  God's way of 'speaking' to us is not always a still voice, it varies, depends on the need at the time. He knows best how He will get through to us.  

Elijah was devastated. His nerves were raw and shattered. No way would something loud and scary get him to do much but cower or hide away even more.  That still quiet voice was what soothed and caught his attention; like a soft blanket put over a cold wounded child. It just brings comfort and warmth.   That's what it did to Elijah.  It brought him back to his senses and he was now able to understand and accept a rebuke and gather his wits about him and follow through with the next task.  

Our mind is often filled with many things (clutter) that actually don't concern us. We need to come to the point where we single out what God would have us be busy with. Then we can easier hear God speaking to  us.  (Our minds need to be renewed)

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1 Kings 19:17-19) Why do you think the author contrasts the "still small voice" to the wind, earthquake, and fire? How does God's voice comfort and renew Elijah? Why is it easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quiet

The author contrast the still small voice to wind, earthquake and fire because there are of different. The still voice allow us to pay close attention to get a better understanding of the message. 

God's voice comfort and renew Elijah because he thought he was alone and that God had abandoned him. 

It's easy to miss God when His voice is gentle and quiet because of distraction or depression with many things going on in our minds. 

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Q12. (1 Kings 19:17-19) Why do you think the author contrasts the "still small voice" to the wind, earthquake, and fire? How does God's voice comfort and renew Elijah? Why is it easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quiet?

We are taught that God can speak to us in a small still voice and not always in loud voice or scenes. This then shows the need for us to be still in case he comes is such still voice or else we will miss his message.
 

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Gentle silence is the method that God speaks to the conscience.  Elijah was a man of deeds or signs. The renting of the mountains,splitting of rocks, fire and earthquake didn't move the Prophet.  Judgment is God's strange work.  Here we are presented with the Judgment of God but it is the sweetness of His mercy that touches Prophet Elijah's heart.  Yahweh delights in mercy.   Yahweh knew that the balm of Gilead had to be utilized; Prophet Elijah had to be renewed in quietness.

God is omnipotent.  Fierce wind and cataclysmic events are not the only ways that God uses as instruments.  God's touch gave Prophet Elijah to get back on the evangelical road.  His "get up and go" was restored.  What we read here gives us a glimpse of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In our dispensation, the Holy Spirit convinces people of righteousness.  It is the love of Christ that constrains man.

Many don't make silent worship a daily event.  Too much emphasis in churches today is on loud music, Lazer lights, hype and other distractions.  I treasure my quiet times that I have each day.  George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement, was a proponent of the value of silence in private prayer and public worship.  

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Why do you think the author contrasts the “still small voice” to the wind, earthquake, and fire?

Probably that God's presence is best conveyed in personal communication with his servants, not in some showy, spectacular display of power

How does God’s voice comfort and renew Elijah?

God comforts him by giving him new work to do -- a new assignment.

Why is it easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quiet?

There is so much noise in our life and so little quiet that God's gentle voice gets lost in the clutter.  We concentrate so much on what we are doing that we hear his voice but not tuned into what he is saying.

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Q12. Why do you think the author  contrast the still small voice to the wind, earthquake and fire?

It shows that God can  reveal Himself differently  ,but can reveal Himself in certain way for each individual  , in Elijah's  case a still small voice God chose to reveal Himsel

Q12 1 How does God's  word comfort Elijah?

God spoke gently with Elijah even when He asked  him where he was going it was not harsh

Q12.2 Why is it easy to miss God when His voice is gentle  and quiet?

Sometimes because of the noise and quarrels inside us , it can make it difficult  to hear when God is quietly speaking

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

God is able to speak to us in words that we will hear. At times he does speak to us in the thunder and earthquake and fire. At other times he speaks to us as he did Elijah. In his weakness, anything more than a gentle God would have been too much for Elijah to bear. There are times when the glory of God is too much for any human being to take. His power is a terrible reality, and sometimes we simply want to know that he is our friend. This is what God revealed to Elijah. God’s voice comforted and renewed Elijah’s spirits and morale and encouraged him to move on serving God. It is easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quite because we are used to the almighty God speaking to us in the thunder and earthquake and fire.

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  • 3 months later...

Because we expect God to communicate in grandiose ways. Many times He does. But more frequently He communicates in smaller more intimate ways. He was so loving and considerate towards Elijah. He allowed Him rest, but moved Him with purpose and destiny. The clamor of the world competes with God's gentle voice. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think that the author wanted us to know that it isn’t always the specular things in life that God wants us to recognize but also His “still small voice”. God’s voice comforted and renewed Elijah by talking to him gently and by rebuking him gently. It is easy to miss God’s voice when it is gentle and quiet because of the noise of the world.

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  • 11 months later...

Q12. (1 Kings 19:11-13) 

Why do you think the author contrasts the "still small voice" to the wind, earthquake, and fire? 

  • Maybe because God is the author of  love and peace when life itself in different seasons presents to us in the various character that each Act of God depicts.  

How does God's voice comfort and renew Elijah? 

  • God’s voice was peaceful in comparison to the noise of the enemy constantly pounding at Elijah during a very terrifying time. 

Why is it easy to miss God when his voice is gentle and quiet?

  • because of the noise around us from people and situations that we often give in to because of anxiety and fear
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