Divine Audiology
“and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.” John 10:3
Hear – The human ear detects frequencies between 15 and 20,000 cycles per second. That range gives us a wonderful appreciation of the deepest bass tones in a thundering waterfall and the highest shrill of insects and birds. Of course, there are more sounds out there than we can actually hear. Just ask your dog. When you realize that the world is literally stuffed full of sounds, it becomes quite amazing that the human hearing mechanisms are limited to a particular range. Imagine how much more cacophonous our world would be if we heard everything that made noise.
There is one particular range of sounds that are absolutely essential for human destiny. These sounds are the voice of the Good Shepherd. According to this passage in John, Jesus obviously assumes that we are perfectly capable of hearing His voice. In fact, we are so constructed that we should be able to hear Him speak our very name, without any doubt at all. That assumption causes most of us great concern, not because we think Jesus was mistaken, but because in our usual experience the voice of our Lord might as well be pitched at 30,000 cycles. He may be speaking, but we are not registering. This common concern is acknowledged every time we say, “I just don’t hear God’s voice.” If hearing the voice of the Master is the most important sound in human existence, why do we seem to be so deaf to His tones? Perhaps the answer is found in the difference between Greek and Aramaic.
In Greek, this verse uses the word akouo (to hear). It simply implies that we are able to receive audible tones. But Jesus didn’t speak Greek. He spoke Aramaic. He used the word stem shm which is directly related to the Hebrew verb in Deuteronomy 6:4 (shema). It means all of the following: hear, listen, obey, converse with and understand. Now it should be apparent that Jesus is not simply saying His sheep receive certain tones He utters. Their hearing is bound up in obedience and understanding. They do not apprehend the sound of His voice unless they are obeying it. Divine audiology does not test for a range of frequency. It tests for a range of conformity. If you want to hear Jesus, you must be ready to let Him lead you out –wherever He wishes to take you.
If you are not clearly receiving His voice, get your divine hearing tested. Chances are pretty good that you have a conformity issue. After all, His sheep know His voice because they have practiced following it.
