Don: Scripture has many references to door. The only legitimate way into the sheep pen is through its door. Any other entry is illegitimate—the way of the thief and robber.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:1-11)
. . .
I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. (John 10:14-16)
Jesus said this about the door:
‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. (Revelation 3:8)
Doors can be opened, and doors can be shut, but it seems that for Jesus, the door is always open. The open door is the way of grace, and Jesus has an open-door policy. At Passover, the door posts and lintel are painted with the blood of a lamb:
Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. (Exodus 12:7)
The blood is why the door can be opened. It is the price of salvation. It is the way of the cross. By standing at the door, Jesus protects us and assures our salvation. The assurance is confirmed by the blood on the door posts. However, it seems to be the tendency of Mankind to shut the door. Fear and insecurity make us retreat into isolation, and we shut the door. When the door is open, the good shepherd stands by it, providing safety and refuge and comfort. When we shut the door, we introduce an element of uncertainty about what is on the other side.
The open door is the portal for all who hear the voice of God to respond to him. One of the most remarkable features of the door and shepherd metaphor is the notion that there are other sheep, not of the fold, who also hear and respond to the voice of God. How do they, and how do we, know the voice of God when we hear it?
While sleeping in the temple one night, the young Samuel heard his name being called. It happened three times, and the voice was God’s, but each time Samuel mistook it for the voice of Eli, his mentor. It is interesting that the holy setting did not make a difference (1 Samuel 3). Gideon also doubted that the voice he was hearing was God’s (Judges 6). How can we validate that voice? We are told that his sheep know his voice, whether they are part of his fold or not. So why should there be such difficulty?
History ancient and modern is replete with stories of people claiming to have heard the voice of God. When George W. Bush said God told him to invade Iraq, he was just the tip of an iceberg of people who say God tells them to do what they do. Do we have any right to tell such people they must be deluded? If we believe we hear the voice of God then surely we must believe that something good will result from following his instructions. Surely, nobody would expect to receive destructive or distressing or evil instructions.
How can we recognize the voice of God?
Michael: If the voice instructs the infliction of hurt on another person I cannot see how it could possibly be God’s voice.
Kiran: Do we hear God’s voice only in the subconscious mind?
Michael: If the voice instructs the spreading of the inner light or helping one’s brothers, then it would be easy to accept it as God’s. Politicians who say God called on them to run for office and so on sound insincere.
Charles: Somewhere in scripture, it says something like “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” In the Garden of Eden there was really only one prohibition: Not to desire knowledge of good and evil—in other words, not to desire to be like God or even to be God. When we trust our will and our desires over those of God, we separate ourselves from him. We lose communion and fellowship with him.
Hearing the voice of God highlights the fundamental imperfection of Man versus the perfection of God. Nobody goes to the Father except through Jesus, and that requires faith in the ways of the spirit as opposed to our own desires, hearts, and imperfect ways. People who claim that God told them to do something hurtful or self-serving reflect human will and imperfection, not God’s divine will and perfection. We must listen with openness and honesty if we are to distinguish between the true voice of God—the spirit—and the false voice of our own desire—the flesh.
Robin: Jesus tried to explain to the disciples that the time was approaching when he must leave:
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
“A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” (John 16:7-16)
And here is why he told them (and through them, us) these things:
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Jay: The Bible is full of stories of God talking directly to people, and we tend to take those accounts at face value, even though some of the Old Testament accounts were of pretty atrocious behavior towards others, ordered by God. Today we see the dissonance between such stories and our view of a merciful God. As well, anyone today who claims to have spoken with God makes us very uneasy and suspicious, whether the alleged instructions are benign or malevolent. We seem to have changed over the centuries since Biblical times.
When Jesus said the sheep recognize the shepherd’s (God’s) voice I don’t think this was in the context of receiving specific commands; rather, it’s about recognizing God’s attributes—his goodness, his grace, his love. Again, this recognition is very dissonant with the recognition of alleged divine commands to hurt one’s fellow Man.
Kiran: When Noah received God’s instructions to prepare for the Flood he was disbelieved and thought to be crazy. Yet it turned out to be true. So it is indeed difficult to determine whether a voice is from God. I agree with Jay that it is not difficult to recognize God through his attributes but, as Jonah discovered, coming to terms with that recognition can be hard.
Don: Is it even desirable to know the voice of God? Is it something to be sought, something to pray for?
Kiran: Jeremiah would have said “No!” He suffered for it.
Robin: If we are fearful of hearing God’s voice, we have to ask whose fault is that? God’s? Or ours? We should ask God to make his will known to us through his spirit, but not the to the extent of people who seek to know God through suffering, as some sects that practice self-flagellation, etc., do. We have to have faith that the answer will come when we need it.
Charles: It’s a human tendency to ascribe anthropomorphisms such as a “voice” to God. We humans can relate to a voice. But salvation history is not a history of Man seeking to hear God’s voice—it’s a history of Man being distrustful of or unsatisfied with God’s persistent attempts to make his word “heard” by Man. It boils down to a matter of faith, of trust, of being open to God’s word and then of allowing God’s word and will to be manifested through us. God chose communion with Man in the Garden of Eden; it was Man who chose separation, at the Fall. But that communion is not in English or any other profane language.
Michael: When we seek the voice of God for direction, it’s usually in order (we hope) to make our lives easier, but it seems God is more interested in having us pursue his word the hard way. Perhaps that’s why we pretend to hear the voice of God in our own wishes.
Charles: If God is pursuing us relentlessly, then ultimate escape is highly doubtful, to say the least! Jonah tried very hard to escape God’s will, but in the end he failed. Peace comes through accepting that God’s ways are not our ways and being open to “hearing” his word and doing his will, even though we can’t understand it.
Don: Are we misguided even in trying to discern the voice of God? The story of Jonah tells us that no matter what we choose to hear, no matter what direction we take, we are going to end up in Nineveh, doing as God wills, not as we will.
Jay: There are differences between hearing, understanding, and recognizing. Jonah recognized God’s voice. Jesus’s flock recognize his voice. It seems odd that society—especially Christian society—has grown so sceptical of the notion that God addresses individuals. Even someone demonstrably achieving great things would not be believed if s/he said God told them to do it. Yet Christian society nevertheless reveres Moses, Daniel, John, and others to whom God spoke.
Kiran: But in less developed countries, people tend to follow (and tend to be abused by) those who claim to have heard the voice of God.
Chris: Communion with God is almost like an extinct language. God’s voice was not rare in Biblical times, but it seems it is today.
Don: The irony is that at the personal level, the faithful do seek to hear the voice of God. But publicly to proclaim that one is doing so is to risks opprobrium.
Kiran: Jesus was reviled for claiming to hear the voice of God.
Charles: When reborn, we will have perfect faith and unity with God. But our current nature—our love of self, our desire that our will be done—is prone to error and evil influences and is therefore inconsistent with perfect faith and unity. We may not be able to achieve that perfection, but to try is still the way forward.
Michael: Mother Theresa did great things without personal motive, yet her personal letters show that she suffered from inner doubt and loneliness, and struggled to have faith in her relationship with God.
Charles: Perfect faith is a struggle for all of us.
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