BY NATHAN COMBS
Jesus used various parables to teach his disciples and the crowds, but his constant drumbeat was this: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11.15, 13.9, 43, etc.). We see this phrase repeated in Revelation 2-3, as Jesus gave messages to seven congregations in the Roman province of Asia. Because of pride, disinterest, preoccupation, or some other reason, we humans can be poor listeners. Jesus not only wants his hearers to understand his words, he also desires action in response.
This phrase “ears to hear” has deep roots in the Old Testament Scriptures. In Moses’ last address to the Israelites before he died, he told them that “to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear”
(Deuteronomy 29.4). God’s people saw the ten plagues fall on Egypt, lived in the wilderness for forty years while wearing clothing that never wore out, won dramatic military victories over ferocious foes, and experienced God’s provisions in countless other ways. They received the law at Mount Sinai and were listening to Moses expound on its importance. Yet, because they lacked devoted hearts, the words of God did not penetrate them.
During the prophet Jeremiah’s time, he said to his fellow Israelites in Jeremiah 25.4 “You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets.” In fact, Jeremiah said that he himself had repeatedly spoken God’s words to them for twenty-three years up to that day, but to no avail. The dire consequences for Judah was destruction by Babylon, followed by seventy years in exile.
At the same time as Jeremiah, far away in Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel was working with the Israelites already in exile. In Ezekiel 12.2, God comments on the spiritual condition of the people: “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.” Although their capture and removal from the promised land should have humbled their hearts, the people remained obstinate.
Although God is repeatedly faithful to his promises, his people repeatedly closed their ears. That continued into the days of the first century. The Pharisees looked with horror at what their ancestors did to God’s messengers – “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets” (Matthew 23.9). And yet, they went on to murder Jesus, the prophet of prophets.
Are we any better? Do we wag our fingers at the hard-hearted characters of Scripture while failing to change our thinking and behavior? Are we better at expressing our own religious opinions than we are at listening humbly to teaching from the Word? All of us have ears capable of hearing, but are we using them the way God intended?
