Throughout Scripture there are references to the people of God not having the eyes to see and ears to hear (Ezekiel 3:27). It is a way of saying that the people lack understanding of what God is doing and saying. Coupled with that expression, the Messiah frequently concludes His exhortation to the last generation with the expression, “he who has an ear to hear let him hear” (Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9, Mark 7:16, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35, Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, Revelation 13:9).
Whenever I see these expressions in Scripture I feel motivated to understand what God is saying, but it also helps me to understand why others don’t seem to understand. God has blocked some from understanding because they are not motivated toward God. They cannot understand because they cannot communicate with God at that level. Let me illustrate what I am saying using the technology of my past.
I have lived long enough to see significant technology changes for how people communicate with each other. As a boy, AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph) and Western Union were the communications giants of our day. Telegraph was the predominant method. If you received a telegram, it was the highlight of your day and everyone around you. It was serious messaging. Telegrams were read at weddings from well-wishers and Western Union was serious business for sending and receiving money. Telephones began to overtake the telegram. Public pay telephones were on street corners. You needed a dime to make a call. You could receive a “long distance” call at no cost, but those made by you were limited to one or two a month as they could cost you a dollar or more per call. Everyone dialed the number if they knew it, but you had to use an operator to call businesses. The phone book was read more often than the Bible. Everyone wanted their own telephone book and you always looked to find your number printed. Then “push button” phones were introduced and the clickety-click of the rotary dial began to disappear. Those were the days when the telephone company owned it all, i.e., the phone, the wiring, and the lines into your house.
If someone talked on the phone frequently we would joke about the “phone stuck in their ear.” We would RUN to answer the phone (because the phone was in the house where you weren’t).
We were all instructed how to call the police and fire department with the first phrase being, “I want to report a fire at…” or “I want to report a robbery at…” Most of the phones at home were on the wall and you stood to talk on the phone. Desk phones were only on desks. A “mobile phone” was a desk phone with a long cord that you dragged into the next room to talk privately. Some people had “party lines” in the rural areas or in apartment buildings. Snoopy neighbors would try to listen in on your conversations. There were no message machines, so the custom was to let it ring ten times before hanging up. If you missed a call, you had no idea who tried to call you. Obscene phones calls were a problem. All you could do was hang up and complain to the phone company and ask for an “unlisted number” in next year’s phone book. Tracing a call to identify who was on the line was the height of intelligence gathering. Only the FBI could do it while located at the telephone switching station. When message machines finally came out, we would check for messages first thing when coming home. Telephones were only audio devices. A video phone was only on the wrist of Dick Tracy in the Sunday comics.
Now look at our phones today and what we are able to do with them. AT&T is not the same company they were but the name still remains. If you ask a young person what the acronym stands for they will most likely NOT know.
Using that imagery, many believers are stuck in the old phone system of communicating with God and understanding spiritual things. They don’t get the call, they don’t get the message, and they avoid making “long distance” calls to Heaven. They don’t even hear the phone ringing. They don’t have an ear to hear. They don’t even have a phone book. When it comes to concepts in Scripture that use the expression “eyes to see and ears to hear,” they have little or no understanding. They are limited to teachings of salvation in Jesus’ name, giving tithes, and weekly church meetings. Their future is only “dying and going to heaven.” It is the same “clickety-click” of a dial phone.
But a believer who has “eyes to see and ears to hear” has a spiritual cell phone. They get every call, every voice message, every text message, and they know who called every time. They even have a light in a dark place.
Allow me to elaborate. Moses speaks directly to the final generation in his final discourse in the book of Deuteronomy. He states that the last generation will be brought back from all the countries Israel had been scattered to. They will be part of another exodus – a greater exodus. The Prophets echo this same message. The Messiah and the Apostles continue to prepare us for the last days and the sequence of prophesied events. In particular, the Messiah speaks of the days leading to the Great Tribulation as the “beginning of sorrows” and cites specific prophecies for the final days and years. There is a tremendous amount of evidence today that tracks exactly to the prophetic scenario. It is like a collage of phone calls, text messages, voice messages, mixed with social media and YouTube. It is all accessible to us if we have the slightest interest. It is not for a lack of information, it is a question of seeing and hearing it (understanding). …and then believing God’s promises to return and establish His kingdom. Those with a spiritual cell phone get it. They see and hear the message from Genesis to Revelation. They understand the Law and the Messiah. They understand redemption and restoration. They seek out righteousness and desire that which is clean and holy. They enjoy Sabbath and rejoice at the festivals. Abraham is their father and they are grafted into Israel. But more than that, they see and hear how it all speaks to this generation today.
Ask God to show you things that eyes don’t see and to hear things that ears don’t hear. You will get a new phone, so to speak, with an unlimited voice and data plan. He will also light your path and give you up-to-date navigation information for your life.
The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding. – Proverbs 4:7
