I Hear Voices

"Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you" (Genesis 27:8).

Are you surprised? Once again I'm going to mention how God spoke to me through my daily Bible reading through Genesis. And once again, it is quite the familiar passage. I mentioned to a friend just the other day how we dangerously come to God's Word with familiarity. Our familiarity can keep us from hearing God afresh and anew. There have been a couple times in reading through Genesis that I have bee inclined to do the same. It has been in those times that the Lord has had some of the greatest words of instruction and encouragement for my heart and life.

The story of Genesis 27 involves quite the plot of deception. Jacob, younger brother to his twin Esau, hears of his father's plan to bless Esau. His informant was none other than his mom Rebekah. Isaac sent Esau to the field to kill some game and prepare some venison in the savory way he liked it. Rebekah, over-hearing the plan, called Jacob and gave him instructions in order that they might trick Isaac into blessing the "wrong" son. I say the "wrong" son because God said "Jacob have I loved." It was Jacob who was chosen and Esau who was rejected, for Esau despised the spiritual blessing and birthright due him. As a matter of fact, he sold it for a bowl of soup.

Throughout the account, you'll find an elaborate scheme devised and executed in order to deceive Isaac who was old, experiencing poor eyesight and not sure when he would die. Jacob counterfeited everything about his brother.

He was a counterfeit in Esau's actions. Instead of going to the field, he and his mother took kid goats and prepared the meet to taste like the game Esau would have killed and prepared.

He was a counterfeit in Esau's appearance. For Rebekah gave Jacob his brother's clothes to wear, which also bore his brother's smell. And when Jacob protested that Esau was hairy and he was smooth, Rebekah gave his the skins from the goat to place upon his arms and neck so that if Isaac put his hands upon his son to feel him it would seem to be Esau.

The greatest means of deception may have been in the affirmation of Jacob. Isaac, who could not see, depended on his other senses. The food tasted as it should; the son smelled like he should; the man felt like he should. But Isaac may have caused Jacob's heart to stop when he said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob's but the hands are the hands of Esau." Nevertheless, when asked if he were Esau, Jacob affirmed by saying, "I am." And so, Isaac blessed Jacob instead of Esau.

What really struck me in all this is how it got to this point. We often talk about the favoritism shown by Isaac toward Esau and Rebekah toward Jacob. Out of this favoritism comes this incident. For when Rebekah overheard the plan for Isaac to bless Esau, she called for Jacob and gave to him a deceptive counter to it. Apparently Jacob was not initially keen on the idea and so Rebekah insisted he "listen to me as I command you."

Jacob listened to the words of his mother which were a deceitful and dastardly plan. He failed to listen to morality. He failed to listen to a code of ethics. But most of all, he failed to listen to the WORD OF GOD. Whatever happened to "you shall not bear false witness." Or "you shall not covet."

We often live in a similar manner of treachery. We can even wind up living in complete opposition to the word of God. Because instead of living by listening to what the Lord says in His word, we live by listening to other voices which can be contrary. It could be that we listen to the voice of our friends, the voice of our culture or the voice of our sinful desires.

The contemporary Christian music group Casting Crowns speak to our need to listen to the voice of God in their song Voice of Truth. The song says:

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Are you listening to the voice of God or some other voice? Will you choose to listen to the voice of truth? You may say, "What is truth?" There's a simply answer: Jesus. He said, "I am the way, the TRUTH and the life..." His word is truth.

I've been guilty throughout our ordeal over the last 8 months of listening to the wrong voice at times. Sometimes I just listened to my own voice. I trusted my own wisdom, logic and strength. At other times I listened more to the voice of doctors than the voice of God. Over the last 7 to 10 days, there has been a tendency to want to listen to the voice of fear rather than the voice of truth.

Last Thursday we returned to Duke for blood work to check levels and so forth. The levels revealed that his liver enzymes had gone back up. It also showed that his FK506 (rejection medicine) was lower than desired. Over the last week we have increased the dosage to hopefully get this where the doctors desire. But because the liver levels were elevated, Micah had an ultrasound performed Monday of this week. The results showed that a couple bile ducts were enlarged in his liver.

Dr. Berman wanted to confer with Dr. Tuttle about this to see what would or should be done. During the waiting process and the report of tests, fear wanted to overtake me at times. I feared a return to the hospital. I feared the liver might be showing signs of rejection. It is amazing how fear is can cause one to think irrationally. But I feared even the craziest of things. But when I came to this passage, again the Lord asked me, "To whom do you listen?"

Jesus said in John 8:47, "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." As a child of God, my Father does and desires to speak to me. As a child of God, I am able to hear His voice. But as a child of God, I must choose to listen to His voice and live by His words.

We return to Duke tomorrow to have levels checked once again. We hope the medicine is getting regulated as it should and that Micah's liver levels are coming down. He is doing very well. As a matter of fact, he is rolling over easy and often. He's gaining weight, active and content. We praise the Lord for what He has done and pray He will continue to use it for His glory!