They Have Moses and the Prophets; Let Them Hear Them!

They Have Moses and the Prophets; Let Them Hear Them!

It is crucial for us to understand and take to heart how we hear, as Jesus exhorts us in Luke 8:18, in the parable of the sower: “Therefore, take heed how you hear!”

In Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus, we read that when the rich man, who had lived in luxury all his life, opened his eyes in Hades, he was in torment. Then he saw that Lazarus, who he had seen daily at his gate, was in Abraham’s bosom. Luke 16:29-31. Since he was in torment, he asked Abraham to send Lazarus, if only he could moisten his dry lips. Then Abraham pointed out that there was “a great gulf fixed” between them, so that such requests could not be granted, whether the request came from above or from below! So, in desperation for his five brothers, he begged for Lazarus to be sent to them “lest they also come to this place of torment.” V. 28. “Abraham said to him: ‘They have Moses and the prophets . . . If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rises from the dead.’” V. 31.

It is clear that our eyes and our ears must be opened to receive and understand God’s word, as Abraham pointed out.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” is written in Rom. 10:17. Here we see the importance of Jesus’ warning to take heed how we hear! That is the key to faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6. The diligence we need to practice in our local churches is to listen with all our heart, and listen with the attitude to obey the laws that have been written in our hearts. “. . . man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Deut. 8:3.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This is repeated again and again in Revelation 2 and 3 to impress upon us how important it is to take heed to how we hear!

What is the Spirit saying to the churches? That Jesus follows along very closely, and both corrects and praises the work of His servants! Does He follow along with us at our meetings in these days, you might ask? “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matt. 18:20. Yes! This promise Jesus gives assures us that we can hear Him today in the New Covenant even more clearly and more personally than in the Old Covenant. Heb. 1:1. Jesus says to the self-assured scribes and lawyers: “. . . there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” John 5:45-46. Today, the Spirit says clearly: “Hear Him!” Matt. 17:1-5. And it can be said to us, in our time, as Abraham said to the rich man in Hades: “You have Jesus who has been manifested in flesh, and the prophets!” Let us be awake today to hear Him!

Under the law, Moses could be preached, heard and believed! Today, Jesus, who is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, can be preached, heard and believed. The exhortation to let the one who has an ear hear, implies that such people are a chosen generation, as Peter writes in his first letter, chapter 2:9: “His own special people.” Why would you and I have ears to hear, if it wasn’t to do what we hear? We need to live in such a way that we can proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Rom. 8:4. Those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the church will also, as Peter writes, be even more diligent to make their call and election sure. 2 Pet. 1:10-11.

May we take heed to hear what the Spirit says to the church and to us personally, so an entrance will be supplied to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!